Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

DICONOMICS polity.policy.technology.society

What you see maybe is not what you think you see!

Project Overview and Description ...... 1

Details on Selected Topics ...... 9

Diconomics – A Sample Topic Outline ...... 20

Project / Operational Plan ...... 26

Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Diconomics: Polity, Policy, Technology, and Society in India Economic and Data Enquiry into Social Observations and Beliefs

Project Overview and Description

Diconomics | 1

Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Overview of Diconomics Project

Address Economic Illiteracy in Rural India Consumable Economics --Bridge between Economic Research & Multifunctional Economic Stories Diconomics.com Common-man portal Familiar Background & Settings Mobile App for Content Costs Benefits Disbursement Analysis Framework

Diconomics Data Research & Mass consumption Analysis via Videos, Cartoon Books, & Mobile Social, Political, & Content Technology trends in India Research Handbook + Topic level Classical & Companion Guides Behavioral Economics

Partner with Dedicated Project Educational Orgs, Employees + Expert Corporates, & Volunteers Governmental Departments for Guest Editors + Project Development Presenters Seek Volunteers, NGOs for Mass Contact

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Project Features

 A commentary on contemporary rural India through an economic prism. Set in the deliberately basic, pedagogical style found in Aesop’s fables and the Panchatantra, with Japanese manga-style graphics and easily relatable stories. Subtle, sarcastic, light-hearted approach. Background settings, history, examples, and illustrations that common people in rural India can understand and identify with.  A textbook-type primer on social, political, and economic issues in rural India. A factual, non-judgmental, and quantitative look at day-to-day facts and observations -- business practices, economic practices, social beliefs, etc. Analysis of the rationale behind these observations, practices and beliefs.  Building a bridge between economic findings / innovations and the general public -- demonstrating implications and consequences of financial and economic decisions taken by all economic actors in the society.  Providing people in rural India with easy-to-use frameworks that they can use to scrutinize micro-economic and macro-economic issues from analytical and quantitative points of view (to prod people away from the subjective and superficial approaches that are commonly used).  Introduce awareness about economics and policies in society, and thereby help strengthen the ‘accountability’ and the ‘transparency’ in the system.  The current focus of this project is India, but the overall model is replicable / reusable in the context of any other developing economy. Once the content and infrastructure setup is ready for the Indian conditions, the same framework can be replicated for other countries / economies with minimal overhead.

Project Deliverables

 A total of fifteen chapters / stories that will cater to different economic, finance, and market-related topics. Mass distribution via three complementary formats: cartoon-manga- style storybooks, animated videos, and mobile-messaging-optimized comic strips.  Material developed in twelve native Indian languages plus English.  Structure of the project / material -- 60% observations and description / 40% data analysis. Part commentary, part narration, and part analysis. One of the goals is to find what works, given the system and setup – social structure, political classes, bureaucracy, etc.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Preamble / Genesis

There is extraordinarily widespread economic ignorance in rural India, with people having no cognizance of even the most rudimentary concepts of finance and of market operations. Perhaps a few decades back, when the villages in India were mostly self-sufficient and almost all economic supply chains were local, ignorance about operational economics didn’t matter much. There really was no need to know anything outside one’s immediate domain. But during the last thirty years, with rapid globalization, technology advancement, and market evolution, there is a strong imperative for rural Indians to be economically aware in order to adapt and to adjust. Also pertinent to this discussion is rural India’s rising inequality and uneven development / prosperity. What we have seen in the past twenty years is that, from an economic and financial perspective, the ‘connected’, networked class in rural India has been doing exponentially better than people in the society’s fringe classes. The networked class has access to better and more reliable information, which is an important factor in their growth story. For an ordinary rural Indian from a lower stratum of the social pyramid – a person who is not technically and economically savvy – it’s difficult to access credible market information, whether about micro-level wholesale produce auction prices or the macro-level impacts of changes in governmental policies. Thus, a common man has to depend solely on the limited information channels that he has, however narrow, outdated, and colored they might be. This exclusion has given rise to an information vacuum. Consequently, there is a disconnect between the common man in rural India and the economic marketplace in general: he is not aware and not able to comprehend and understand many of the new ways of doing business. His lack of market knowledge also leads him to make many economic decisions in the dark, without understanding their basic implications. In addition, this person, because of his ignorance, is an easy target for manipulation by the market forces and social entities. As a result, the common man in rural India does not have an optimal level of economic participation. Arguably, this constrained behavior, along with negatively impacting these individuals’ economic well-being, is also having an adverse impact on the overall economy. Ushering economic transparency into rural India by demystifying the market operations and its players, by mapping out economic rent distributions, and by articulating financial and economic choice matrixes may be one of the best ways to tackle the issues mentioned above. The aim of the Diconomics project is to address economic, financial, and market ignorance in rural India in a head-on fashion, but in a colloquial and holistic way. The project is ‘colloquial’ in the sense that information will be conveyed in a way that is local and relevant to the rural life. It Diconomics | 4

Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

is ‘holistic’ in the sense that all material would be neutral and apolitical, while presenting all viewpoints and letting people decide for themselves how to perceive the society’s current structure. There have been many prior initiatives that have tried to spread economic literacy in India. But almost all of them have been high-level descriptive or prescriptive efforts that attempted to distill principles of economics in a semi-technical language without consideration of local conditions and adaptability. Diconomics would be different in the sense that it would take advocacy to the grassroots. It would attempt to explain economics in people’s own language, using the background of issues and problems that they face and experience in their regular lives. At its core, the project’s approach is strictly that of a data-centric commentary that would analyze the day-to-day observations and happenings in rural India from a broader economic point of view, and then pair these findings along with contextual material and settings to convey economic literacy-related points. The deliverable format of the project is a mixture of contextual history, description of macro and micro conditions, and of the conveyance of economic morals and principles. Just as an illustration of the specific points that would be conveyed:

 Context – When talking about the differences in socialist and capitalist market approaches, there will be discussion of this history in the Indian context. Consumers will be educated about the nation’s socialist leanings after independence and the need for a push towards open markets in the early 1990s.  Backdrop Information – When talking about the role of government, information on where and how government gets its revenues, and how government budgets its expenditures will be provided.  Economic Principles and Topics – For example, concepts such as opportunity cost will be explained using relevant and practical illustrations from rural life. The ultimate aim of the project is to distill all activities into a Costs-Benefits framework. What this means is that the project conveys to the common man in rural India what a particular activity means to him in terms of his individual gains and losses. To further explain, consider the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir or the problem of Naxalism. From a strictly economic perspective, we can state and demonstrate 1. How these geo-political issues have caused negative supply side shocks to the overall Indian economy and 2. How the necessary but unproductive defense and internal security-related costs being imposed on the Indian state are diverting resources from potentially more productive economic activities. We Diconomics | 5

Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

can further derive the opportunity costs for the Indian economy as a whole when confronted with problems such as these insurgencies and other internal security issues. Analysis in this fashion, though, would be only abstract to a layman in rural India. Borrowing behavioral economics principles – translating this analysis and the opportunity costs data into a more tangible and relatable number – would be much more relevant. As a very basic illustration, consider that a rough, back-of-the-napkin calculation1 shows that it costs an average Indian about 900 rupees per year to combat terrorism in India in terms of direct and indirect costs. The implied, forfeited gains in terms of per-person opportunity cost are to the tune of 400 rupees per year. And in the last ten years, the average Indian has lost an aggregated total of around 20,000 rupees because of overall terrorism and vandalism activities. If data is presented in this format, then it is both more comprehensible as well as more likely to stick with readers.

1 http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2014-15/eb/npe.pdf THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF NAXALITE VIOLENCE AND THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF A UNIQUE ROBUST SECURITY RESPONSE – Saurabh Singhal MEASURING THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF TERRORISM – Walter Enders THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF TERRORISM, US Congress Joint Committee, Jim Saxton et.al.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Project Research and Development Methodology

Rural India

Social Changes & Government Policies Political Happenings Technology Evolution Business Practices Observations

Is data available to quantify these observations and changes at a high level?

I. Model Fitting : Data Scrutiny & Analysis

Neo-classical models Standard Economic Frameworks Cause & Effect Analysis

II. Further Observational Analysis

Macro & Micro Trends Societal Evolution Behavioral Economics

III. Distill Into Core Economic Frameworks & Lessons

Economic Perspective : Aesop's Fables + Map Economic Roles & Cost Benefit Calculations What Works & What Freakonomics style Rent Distributions Doesn't

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

List of Potential Topics

1. Is public distribution system (PDS) affecting labor participation? 2. Realty explosion -- Why land in USA is cheaper than land in India? 3. Game changer in the ‘other’ elections? – Pay voters after results. 4. Economic backlash due to migration of middle-classes to urban areas (?) 5. Small businesses are facing extinction. Is this trend reversible? 6. How cooperative institutions shape the rural economy? 7. Quantitative effects of societal rationing and regulation. 8. Electronic tenders and government contracts. Is it a fair system? 9. Indian growth story. Or is it the growing inequality story? 10. Amma Idli – When the State becomes your competitor. 11. What’s the quantitative value of English in rupees? 12. Police corruption -- I would rather settle my dispute outside. 13. Farm to table – Who, how, and what adds value? 14. Naxalism: Do we see an end to it yet? 15. Underground banking – Why private money lending thrives? 16. Gas prices and gas subsidies. What does this actually mean to me? 17. Politics of sand and sand mafia in India. 18. Skewed female: male ratio in rural India. 19. Unionized workers. Where they stand now? 20. Farmer suicides – Can we find a trend? 21. Caste based reservations – Why, who, how, and if of it?

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Diconomics: Polity, Policy, Technology, and Society in India Economic and Data Enquiry into Social Observations and Beliefs

Details on Selected Topics2

2 Note: The points and topic ideas listed in this section essentially are free-wheeling thoughts and hypotheses to be investigated – which can serve as a platform for further brain-storming and development of this project. Diconomics | 9

Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

1. Is public distribution system (PDS) affecting labor participation?

Many business activities in rural India – farming, trading, small scale factories, etc. -- depend on unskilled and semi-skilled casual labor. According to owners of businesses in rural India, it is getting increasingly difficult to procure and employ casual labor for their businesses. As a result, many businesses in rural India are not operating at full-pace. Employers blame the government’s food security / home shelter / employment guarantee schemes as one of main reasons for this labor shortage. The hypothesis is that food security types of schemes have de- motivated common laborers from seeking incremental work. With required food and shelter now guaranteed by the government, the laborers are happy with the minimal threshold of part- time work that satisfies their basic non-food needs. From a behavioral economics perspective, there’s a huge gap between people’s aspirations and the practical ground situation, which makes fulfilling people’s basic aspirations an almost impossible task. Has a certain class of people – say, landless laborers in rural India -- just given up? Are they now seeking the lower threshold or plateau, which is minimum sustenance? Has the marginal utility from additional or extra employment diminished due to rising income and consumption inequality? What’s actually causing the labor shortage in rural India? Is it that the economy is opening up multiple other opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled labor? Is it just a free market effect? Does the employer’s hypothesis – blaming food security schemes for labor shortage – hold any water? Can we examine this issue from a quantitative perspective – do we see any changes in employment and productivity trends in the PDS dominated states? Another thing to investigate is -- Why the supply doesn’t equate demand in terms of higher rents / salaries? What are the market conditions (or the non-market conditions) that are preventing this from happening? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Marginal Utility Concepts, Social Capital and Networks, Behavioral Economics Principles, Labor Laws and Labor Economics.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

2. Realty explosion -- Why is land in the USA cheaper than land in India? Karad is a typical small town in rural India with sub-par civic infrastructure and amenities. Karad has an agriculture-based economy, and its average per capita income is less than 2000 dollars per year in nominal terms. But the residential land in this town is exponentially more expensive than in, say, Naperville, Illinois, USA, both in nominal and in purchasing parity terms. Is this a pure market – demand and supply -- phenomenon? Or is this a bubble? How does this trend compare with other realty markets in the world? Indian property prices – for both land and developed construction -- have gone up by 500% in the last decade. Who’s benefitting? Are the economic rents distributed in an equitable manner? Is the realty labor better off? Are the price increases sustainable? What’s the real affordability level in terms of income? If there is a realty bubble, what would make it burst? And what would sustain or feed it? How is limited infrastructure or concentration of infrastructure in certain core areas affecting the market? Land incursions, land grabs, land appropriations, and land FSI rules -- politics and economics behind this. Local government officials have discretionary powers on realty infrastructure and development matters. Do discretionary powers distort the market efficiency? If so, then how? Who benefits from government’s land-control laws? Who are the new real estate developers? What are their characteristics and their social networks? Why are people selling land and moving into smaller developed properties? The proportion of renters is increasing in class ‘A’ cities. What does this tell us? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Demand and Supply Economics, Economic Irrationality, Role of Government, Information Economics.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

3. Game changer in the ‘other’ elections? – Pay voters after results. For a majority of rural folks, the national and state level elections are an ‘entertainment show’ in a way; they really are passive participants in these elections. For the people of rural India, the real and relevant elections are the local ones, for Gram Panchayats, Zilla Parishads, Kharedi- Vikri Sanghs, Municipalities, etc. These elections are for direct principals who have an outsized impact on their lives. It’s also a common practice to buy and sell votes in these elections – i.e. a voter promises to vote for a certain candidate in an election for a price. A recent innovation -- in conjunction with technological development via electronic voting machines that allows easy deciphering of micro voting trends – is to pay voters after the election results. Has this altered the dynamic, and is it now changing the money landscape of elections? What is a vote worth? Hypothetically, assuming that selling and buying a vote are both legal activities and a free market enterprise, what is the voter ROI? On a related note, political nominations are discretely auctioned off by the political parties / groups to the highest bidder. What’s the economic model? Do the political candidates make a return on their investment? What about losing candidates? Do they too still end up in the black based on their implied clout? An average price for vote is higher in local elections compared to state / national elections: why? Is it a pure asymmetric information / audit issue? Or does the local election winner make more money per capita than, say, a state-level winner? Economics of political campaigns -- Where do the political parties get their donations from? What does it cost to run a typical election campaign? Who ends up with getting the business from political campaigns / activities? Student Politics – How this feeds into the main political system. What happens to student leaders after their ‘term’ is over. Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Political and Electoral economics, Discussion about Direct and Indirect influence that Elected Representatives have on Daily Life.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

4. Economic backlash due to migration of middle-classes to urban areas. People from higher ‘service’ castes – people that formed the middle-class and also the backbone of services activities in the old, pre-independence economy -- have been migrating in increasingly higher numbers from villages to urban areas. As a result, many of the villages now don’t have a functional ‘middle’ class. What is causing this and what are its economic effects? Gradual consolidation of political power in the hands of agricultural landlords after independence, and the ensuing discrimination and vendetta, led to a suffocation of opportunities for the legacy higher castes. This, along with the combination of improving economy in urban areas, motivated the higher caste classes to seek better opportunities outside their native places. This relatively sudden change in societal makeup is leading to shocks in the centuries-old set-up where every caste / family had a fixed role to play in the micro village level economy. Traditionally, every part of rural India has had a more or less fixed proportion of producers / consumers based on their castes – e.g. in : 5% Brahmins, 10% traders, 40% farmers, 45% others including artisans, lower castes, etc. The balutedar system has collapsed, and with it the aim / dream of Gandhian self-dependence and self-reliance. ‘45% others’ are faced with increasingly lower demand for their skills and goods; the importance of their output has gone down in terms of utility. With no complementary (or educational skills), this class of people is finding themselves vulnerable. Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Urbanization, Economics of Discrimination.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

5. Small businesses are facing extinction. Is this trend reversible? Small businesses and traders are forced to close their loss-making businesses, often without any viable alternate employment option. Improvements in transportation infrastructure and facilities are making village-level businesses obsolete. Who all is getting affected the most? Is there a way the small businesses can survive? What does the data / trend tell us? Has the overall societal welfare gone up? How are the new economic rents distributed? 70% of the people in India are currently self-employed. What do models from other countries, such as Mexico or Brazil, that are ahead on the development curve tell us? Are we invariably moving towards service based economy model? General opposition to big box stores and foreign equity in retail: Who’s benefiting? Is this going to be an Ambassador Car story? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Globalization, Macro-Economics, Analysis of Self-Dependence / Swadeshi Movements, Analysis of Protectionist Policies.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

6. How do cooperative institutions shape the rural economy? Cooperative institutions – factories, dairies, banks, etc. -- are ubiquitous in rural India. They are also the first rung of the political ladder and are generally controlled by local emissaries of political players. What role do these institutions play in society and policy implementations? How does the chain of command work? What is the carrot and stick model? How do the local emissaries control political votes? By controlling all institutions related to agricultural activities, these players have a stranglehold on rural money supply, distribution and logistics. Case in point – cooperative sugar factories are monopolies in their respective tehsils / talukas. How and why? What are the economic impacts and the deadweight losses? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Institutional Economics, Economic Supply Chain, Money Liquidity in Society.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

7. Quantitative effects of societal rationing and regulation. Rural India is not a free market society. It is still a tradition-bound society, with century-old biases and beliefs intact. For example, some goods are supposed to be used only by certain sections / castes of the society -- in many rural areas people from backward castes do not buy cars, even if they desire them and can afford them, just to stay within implicit societal boundaries. Also, there’s not a free market -- people have caste preferences about people with whom they will trade or from whom they will buy goods, depending on the type of good. And society members are expected to stay within their roles; for example, it’s exponentially difficult for a backward class person to start a successful trading business in rural India. As a result, we have all these mini-economies, siloed within a larger economy. What’s the direct impact of these siloed economies in terms of monetary impact on individual consumers? How’s this social rationing phenomenon impacting the overall market economy? Can we do quantitative analysis compared against a control group in an economy where the market is more homogenous, say that of Malaysia? Quantify the GDP and Productivity losses at all levels, both micro to macro, due to this phenomenon. Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Microeconomics, Barriers to Free Entry, Types of Markets, Role of Free Markets in Maximizing Consumer Utility, Choice Theory.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

8. Electronic tenders and government contracts. Is it a fair system? The contracts for consumption, development and maintenance of public resources and infrastructure – natural resources, roads, dams, utilities, government homes and buildings, etc. – are procured via tenders and granted to the most eligible applicant. Electronic processing was implemented to introduce transparency and efficiency in the system. Has it succeeded? Or are the power players manipulating the system now since it needs a single point of control from an IT person? How is the most eligible applicant decided? What are the inner workings of this process? What is the decision process hierarchy? What’s the money trail? What are the societal implications? How are the kickbacks delivered? Who makes economic rents from this process? What is the Dead Weight Loss (DWL)? Do we see a change in government contractors after a change of government? Selective implementation of technology-- How are decisions manipulated? Do we see a change in functioning and implementation of government contracts after recent e- processing? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Role of Technology in Society, Public Goods, Utilities and Consumption, State Revenue Basics – Taxes and Expenditures, Corruption – Who Ultimately Bears the Costs.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

9. The Indian growth story. Or is it the growing disparity story? India had a decent growth rate for the past 10 years. GNI per capita in PPP terms has gone up by about 100% in the past ten years. While impressive, enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that CPI has grown by more than 100% in the same time. But the relevant concern here is while income growth is skewed and positively biased towards urban areas, the core inflation and price increases are taking place across the board. Playing devil’s advocate -- Is the current set up of the market appropriate for Indian context? Would general rural population be better off – strictly by economic considerations only -- under a socialist / protectionism regime? Do we have any data to analyze this further? Who all exactly is growing in India? Is it only the top 10% of the population? How is the face of growth changing – old money versus new money? What are the effects on rural India – (inflation is rising across the board, while wages in rural India are stagnant)? Is the growth equitable? Or are some sections facing implied negative growth (income changes not keeping pace with inflation). What are the spillover effects of growth? Is the net effect generally positive? . What are the macro changes in consumer baskets? Are we creating an entrenched, poverty- ridden lower class? Analyze what types of people are really making money in India. What’s their profession / profile? Real income in rural India is falling. The real prices are growing. What would be the tipping point in quantitative terms? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Globalization, Moving Towards a Services Dominated Market – What this Means for the Common Folks, Technology Adaption and Growth Inequality.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

10. Amma Idli – When the State becomes your Competitor. Tamil Nadu has started a chain of fast-food centers that sell idli, the staple food of Tamilians, at throwaway prices. We have many similar examples of government-subsidized, inexpensive products all across the country. In addition to the prevalent socialist holdovers – such as centralized planning, consumption and distribution – a new breed of politicians are tapping into and exploiting the politics of inequality by offering highly subsidized products to the general public. These products range from food items to commodities such as cement. How’s the quality of products? What is the quality chain monitoring? How are the contracts handled / products procured? What are the economic implications? What does the history tell us about such experiments? How is the historical and the current performance of state run enterprises? Who ultimately pays for these ventures? Are they good to the society overall? What are the dead weight losses, if any? In addition to subsidized products, India has a tradition of politicians / state governments distributing free goods. Apart from dubiousness of such schemes, almost all of them invariably were mismanaged and ultimately turned up to be exchequer disasters. Who bore the financial incidence of such schemes? Public / Government / Economic Education Topics: Capital vs Social markets, State Involvement in Market Activities – Pros and Cons, Economics Rents in Non-profit Ventures and Corporate Ventures.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Diconomics: Polity, Policy, Technology, and Society in India Economic and Data Enquiry into Social Observations and Beliefs

Diconomics – A Sample Topic Outline

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Chapter: Quantitative effects of Societal Rationing and Regulation

High Level table of contents / structure for this chapter

1.0 Social Rationing: Introduction story about interactions between Ram, a farmer, and two grocers --Shankar and Abdul. 2.0 What exactly is Social Rationing? High level description – people like to stay within their communities while conducting business deals. Strong antipathy between religions – e.g. A high caste Hindu will not deal with Muslim trader. Nor will he accept employment under a low caste Hindu. Describe how the societal peer pressure mandates this type of behavior -- how there’s a price to pay, possibility of becoming an outcast, if somebody transgresses these boundaries. 3.0 History of Social Rationing – how did it all start… 3.1 Circa 500 BC – 1500 AD – A Single market economy 3.2 Circa 1700 AD – 1900 AD – Towards biases and discrimination; underpinnings of multi- markets 3.3 1900 AD – Present 4.0 Current examples of social rationing. Mini economies within a larger economy. Non-over- lapping business worlds. 4.1 Description of typical transactions and shops in every community 4.2 Example -- Medical Silos – first preference is to visit a doctor from the same community 4.3 Example -- Marriage silos – restricted marriages within particular communities. 4.4 Example – Employment Silos – Downward mobility is practically non-existent – a person from higher hierarchy / caste / class would not work for a business / enterprise owned by a lower class person. 5.0 Determine the social cost of rationing. Determine a factor by which business entities are over represented. 6.0 Describe the following types of markets from a rural India point of view, including relevant examples or stories – free competition market, oligopoly, monopolistic competition & monopoly. 6.1 Free Competition Market 6.2 Oligopoly 6.3 Monopolistic Competition. (Social rationing is really a form of monopolistic competition) 6.4 Monopoly 7.0 Why is free competition market good? How does it contribute to social welfare and social good? 8.0 Why are monopolies and monopolistic competitions bad? Who bears the costs of monopolies? 9.0 What is the financial impact of social monopolies? 9.1 Primer on Choice Theory. Rational Choice Theory. 9.2 Shrinking of Market Sizes. Why is that bad? Optimal number of choices. Restricted Markets. 10.0 Economies of Scale are a function of Market Size. How scale of economy is relevant in this Diconomics | 21

Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

scenario. 11.0 Quality of Service adversely impacted by these monopolies. 12.0 Posner -- Social costs of Monopoly. 13.0 Horizontal Differentiation. Hotelling model – social preferences are siloed. 14.0 Economic costs due to social biases. Difference between rent transfers and DWLs.

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Samples / Description of the cartoon panel strips

Societal Rationing -- Introduction Story Page 1 of Intro Story

Page Panel Cartoon Description # #

Show the village of Pasur, a village based in Tamil Nadu state of India. Show a view from the 1 1.1 top – cluster of homes surrounded by farms.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Page 2 of Intro Story

Page Panel Cartoon Description # #

2 2.1 Introduce the character of Ram the Farmer. In the background show his farm.

Introduce the characters of Shankar and Abdul. Shankar is a rich person while Abdul is from a typical poor background in the village. Depict a scene in the village market – show some 2.2 shops and the street scene in an Indian village. Shankar’s shop is bigger and better looking than Abdul’s shop.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Page 3 of Intro Story

Page Panel Cartoon Description # #

Show Ram is out for his grocery shopping, with an empty bag and is passing by Abdul’s shop. 3 3.1 Abdul is looking at him, but Ram is walking along.

Ram is buying stuff from Shankar’s shop. Show him interacting with Shankar and his 3.2 employee in the shop.

3.3 Ram is returning home after purchasing his groceries, looking quite content.

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Diconomics: Polity, Policy, Technology, and Society in India Economic and Data Enquiry into Social Observations and Beliefs

Project / Operational Plan

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Project Plan – Executive Summary

 A total of fifteen chapters / stories that will cater to different economics, finance, and market-related topics  Mass distribution via three complementary formats: Cartoon-Manga style storybooks, Animated Videos, and Mobile Messaging Optimized Comic Strips  Material to be developed in twelve native Indian languages plus English  Structure of the project / material -- 60% observations and description / 40% data analysis. Part commentary, part narration and part analyses. One of the goals is to find what works – given the system and setup – social structure, political classes, bureaucracy etc. – and see what fits and works.  Conduct data investigation to present the evidence, and then prove or disprove the observations / myths / gossip. Integrate disparate data sources to analyze economic issues – National Sample Surveys, Electoral Rolls, Central Budgets, Central Plans and Projections, State Level Budgets, Income Tax Data, Consumer Prices, Wholesale Price Indexes, Real Estate Records, Business Filings, etc. Also use other abstract data sources -- for example use residence locality to get an estimate of social hierarchy, last names to get estimates of position in caste hierarchy, etc.  Project deliverables – Data Research / Analysis, Cartoon Storybooks, Animation Videos, Mobile Comic Strips, Mobile App, Companion Booklets and Reference Material, Technical Data Commentary and Handbook, Diconomics.com Web Portal, Survey / Feedback mechanisms, Project Performance Measurement Toolkits / Frameworks  Host / sponsor organization, based either in the USA or India that can be the face of the project and that can also provide a platform for project research and development  Partner with appropriate India-based organizations for on-ground operations and distribution / dissemination of the videos and storybooks  Estimated Project Duration / Development Timeline – 18 months  Core Project Resources: a. Full-time resources (18 months) -- Economic Analyst (1), Data Analyst (1), Project Admin (1), Website Developer (1), Primary Writer (1), Digital Marketing Expert (1) b. Part-time resources (18 months) -- Content Writers & Illustrators (12), Data & Economic Research Interns (5), Project Coordinators (4) c. Volunteers / Referees (duration as needed) – Expert Economists (15), Social Entrepreneurs / Social Activists (15), IT and General Support (2), Outreach Volunteers (10)

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 Economic Analyst and Data Researcher can be based either in USA or in India. Rest of the project resources would be based in India  Primary host organizations (India/USA) to provide office space and administrative support for the duration of the project  Contract with Graphics and Media Production Houses in India for the development of Cartoons, Mobile Content, Storybooks and Videos  Estimated Project Costs (implied costs): a. Project Setup, IT Infrastructure, Mobile App – 11.00 Lakh Rupees ($18K) b. Mobile Comic Strips, Cartoons & Animation – 38.25 Lakh Rupees ($63K) c. Project employees (India based option) – 58.41 Lakh Rupees ($96K) d. Distribution Campaign – 37.50 Lakh Rupees ($61K)  Distribution Campaign will be carried out in three phases that will introduce material in rural areas of India. Emphasis would be on Digital Marketing via both the Social Media and the Traditional (Local TV stations, Cinema Halls, etc.) channels  The current focus of this project is India, but the overall model is replicable / reusable in context of any other developing economy. Once the content and infrastructure setup is ready for the Indian conditions, the same framework can be replicated in other countries / economies with minimal overheads

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Chapters /Topics

The scope of topics would be pan-India in representation and will include material that would be familiar to the majority of Indians. The tentative, initial list of topics was discussed earlier in this document. The list of topics / chapters would be further curated based on: 1. Data availability and field research, 2. Strategic economic points that need to be conveyed and 3. Interests and focus areas of stakeholders / partner organizations. The final number of topics / chapters is expected to be around fifteen. As stated earlier, we plan to use common stereotypical backgrounds and characters to explain the stories and economic content. To streamline the whole effort and also to breed familiarity with the whole series, we plan to identify a total of five village / background settings that would be iteratively used for the fifteen chapters – one background setting for three chapters each. These five settings would be drawn from the following states so as to have an equitable geographic representation – Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. One of the goals is to establish an independent, apolitical communication channel with the people of India. Future vision for this project is to have ‘Current Events Commentary’ initiative, which will analyze economic news, opportunities, and issues in real-time, and disseminate this information back to the people using the same channels and tools that the initial Diconomics project has established. Organization of a typical chapter would be as follows –

 Part A: General description of the market event and activity that’s going to be analyzed in the chapter. Introduce characters and the background conditions.  Part B: Provide the context of the conditions and history of the involved players and actors.  Part C: Build a framework for analysis. Introduce related economic and finance concepts.  Part D: Present Costs and Benefits figures. Map out economic rents / utilities.  Part E: Distill core topics in a single page / slide. Provide examples of various other marketplace activities where this chapter’s analysis / lessons might be relevant.

Micro and Macro Data / Analysis

As mentioned earlier, data derived inferences form the crux of this project. Towards this end, all relevant data sources would be probed, analyzed and aggregated. At a high level, the type of data sources that would be used include the following -- National Sample Surveys, Electoral Rolls, Central Budgets, Central Plans and Projections, State Level Budgets, Income Tax Data,

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Consumer Prices, Wholesale Price Indexes, Real Estate Records, Business Filings, etc. Also other abstract data sources would be utilized in the analysis -- for example use residence locality to get an estimate of social hierarchy, last names to get estimates of position in caste hierarchy, etc. If needed during the project development phase, targeted surveys to gather specific field data would be run in partnerships with local volunteers / NGOs. (*Note – The scope of the project is limited to using the existing and available data to analyze the financial outcomes of the scenarios / social practices / etc. that are examined. And how they fit into the already existing economic models. No new research will be done or no new hypotheses / models would be developed).

Target Market / Consumers of the Project

The primary targets – readers / viewers of this project are rural area males in the age groups of 15-45. These are the people that have heavy influence on the economic decisions and activities of a rural household. Targeting this demographic profile would lead to the most optimum impact from the project’s perspective. All Diconomics’ product development and marketing efforts will be catered towards this age-group profile. Per the latest census 2011 figures, approximately 45% of the rural male population falls in the 15-45 age group. If we assume an initial conservative target penetration rate of 5% (i.e. the project material should reach 5% of people in the age groups of 15-45), then the total number of people in rural India that should be targeted comes out to be 9.6 million or 96 lakhs. [Refer Appendix A]. Depending on the available resources and areas of interest, this project can be implemented / targeted either in particular states or in whole of India. As of now, the project plans to cover and roll out in the entire country.

Content and Format

General Content The idea behind this project is to convey economics in a way that is relatable and easy to comprehend. The overall format of the material needs to appeal to the masses. They need to have anchor points in the background and data with which they can identify. For the content to be sticky, it needs to be funny, slightly provocative, thought-provoking and deliberately stereotypical. This project also needs to cater to the sensibilities of rural people, appeal to their

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psyche. The whole effort shouldn’t come across as a preach or patronization. And finally, the project should navigate with and around the geo-socio-political realities in India. To incorporate all of these factors, an anime / cartoon-based feature would work best. In addition, cartoons would have the novelty factor and would be easy to propagate. Cartoon Storybooks A story / topic will consist of around twenty pages (8.5x11 inches paper size). The cartoon pages, along with the story graphics / background narrative, will also include illustrated economic text material and commentary. The storybooks would be available as separate topic level booklets as well as in consolidated three-, six-, and fifteen-chapter books. Also, these books would be available in multiple versions – paperback, low-quality hardcover, and collectible hard-cover version. Mobile Content / Comic Strips The content for mobiles will be same as the storybooks, but the graphics, text and format will be adapted for mobile usage. Per latest data figures, almost 70% of households in India have access to a mobile phone. Fifteen percent (185M) of the Indian population access Internet via smartphones and significant web traffic in India is initiated via mobiles / smartphones (Refer Appendix B). As such, the delivery of content via mobile platform is a very promising channel. And the overheads of producing mobile content are relatively low once we have the storybook cartoon features ready. Animated videos The animated videos will have the exact same background material, characters and flow as the storybook chapters. The animated videos will have two versions that will differ in their length / run-times – 1. An eight-to-ten-minute main video that will address the topic in a comprehensive way. 2. A quick ninety-second primer video that would essentially be a gist of the longer video and will act as quick introduction / refresher for the main topic. All these videos will be available for non-restricted downloads and distribution online. Languages Diconomics books, mobile content and videos will be produced in the following twelve native languages: , Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, , Gujarati, , , Oriya, Punjabi, and Assamese, plus English. Collectively, 92.4% of Indians are native speakers of one of these twelve languages. Moreover, there are significant cross-over linguistic abilities – for example, most native speakers of

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Khandeshi language are able to understand . From a comprehension point of view, approximately 98% of the Indian population would be covered by these twelve languages. A special case may be made to also produce content in if that would help in getting partners. Please refer Appendix C for more details on Indian languages and their percentage breakup.

Technical Handbook / Companion Booklets / Guides

Technical Handbook The project will create a technical handbook that will contain all the background research, data analysis and other reference information. This handbook, which would be written in English, would basically be the modified version of the script that would be created for the graphical storybook. This text, which is not intended for mass public consumption, would be available on the Diconomics.com website. (If need be and if an opportunity arises, this handbook can also be converted to a regular non-fiction social commentary book). Companion Booklets / Guides Every chapter / topic in the Diconomics project will have a companion booklet. The intended users of these booklets will be the field volunteers who are in charge of disseminating /distributing the storybooks and videos. The format of these companion booklets would be similar to that of instructor and student guides that accompany college-level textbooks. They will contain more information on the listed economics topics, provide additional scenarios and details for the topics that are discussed, have answers to common questions, etc. These booklets will also contain sample quizzes and surveys that can be used to probe the percolation of content and gather further feedback from the rural population. The current plan is to produce these booklets only in English, but this can change per the needs and conditions later on in the project development cycle.

Partners / Collaborators / Volunteers

Host / Main Partner Organization The project needs a single host umbrella organization to incubate the whole idea and to provide a platform for content development. The host partner needs to be someone who has complementary interests in enhancing economic literacy in India. This could include, for example, a NGO with pan-India mandate, a central governmental arm / department or entity from an educational / academic domain.

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The host organization will be the ‘face’ of the project and will also support further marketing and partnering efforts. Panel of Experts / Supervising Board Expert panel would be formed to guide and supervise the overall development of the project. This eight-to-ten member panel will consist of eminent people from different backgrounds such as finance, economics, social entrepreneurship, rural politics, etc. Presenters / Guest Editors The project needs expertise and credibility to gain traction in the market. It would also benefit with the on-ground familiarity factor. In part to fulfill these motives, every chapter / topic will seek to have two guest editors / presenters – 1. An established / internationally known economist with an expertise in the chapter’s topics 2. A social activist / social entrepreneur / non-political public figure from rural India with relevant background The economist will vet and edit the chapter contents at a high-level – basically validate and support the economic content. The local person will vet the background information and its relevance in current rural market setups. Along with the project’s researchers and writers, these presenters will form a chapter level team and will guide the overall development of the data research and text / graphical content for that chapter. This model of guest editors, in addition to bringing in expertise and pertinent perspectives to the table, will also help in sharing the workload of the overall effort. The added benefit of such pairings is that it would also be an excellent marketing tool to gain overall traction. Volunteers 1. Local Rural Volunteers The project will rely heavily on local volunteers. The catchment area for local volunteers will be Taluka-level colleges -- specifically students that commute for classes from the nearby villages. We will use ‘Teach the Teacher’ model wherein we will train these volunteers via web-based recorded seminars, companion books and instructional videos. 2. Project Volunteers The project will also seek broad-based grassroots level participation from urban professionals and students. The typical volunteer roles would include a. State level project directors who will tie-up with appropriate partners and manage the rollout of videos and storybooks b. Project managers to run media and support campaigns c. Focused district level coordinators during the Diconomics | 33

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distribution phase d. Support / Outreach volunteers. A guide / toolkit will be prepared for each of these volunteer roles. Distribution / Logistics Partners Partnerships will be formed with local level NGOs, Educational Institutions, Governmental institutions, etc. for the managing the distribution of videos and storybooks at the rural level. More details on the specifics of these operations will be contained in a separate marketing document.

Content Development

The content development of the project material will be done in three stages: In the first stage, four topics will be developed; these topics will pertain to general basic theories of microeconomics and macroeconomics, namely supply and demand, types of markets, market setups, opportunity costs and role of government in the regulation of markets. The topics / background stories for these topics will come from four geographically diverse states -- Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand. In this first stage, all of these topics would be produced / written exclusively in Hindi language for a Hindi-based audience. After the first development stage, the pilot implementation phase will be executed. This is when the test runs of all systems – from website portal to on-ground field operations will be carried out. The feedback / data from these pilot implementation phases would be incorporated to develop and roll out the remaining topics. (More details about the distribution / marketing are described under relevant sections below). In the second content development stage, the first four topics will be translated into the remaining languages. Also, the geographic scope of implementation / distribution will be expanded to include more diverse states and audience. In the third and the final stage of content development, the remaining eleven topics will be worked on.

Dedicated Project Resources / Employees

This project needs three types of skillsets – 1. Data research, analysis and aggregation, 2. Economic analysis and interpretation, and 3. Content writing and story development. To put up a comprehensive and thoroughly researched final product, it is estimated that each topic will need services of two to three data and economic researchers, one economic analyst, and one content writer working together for a period of one month. Diconomics | 34

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To give some background on how these project resources will work -- After a topic / background story is identified, the data research team will confirm at a high-level that supporting data is available to quantify the details behind the story / economic belief / observation. Simultaneously, the economic analyst will confirm that an economic (or financial) point / principle could be derived from the background story. After both of these conditions are satisfied – further data analysis, development of economic models and ground conditions research work would be undertaken along with the content development / writing in English language. Once the background work and high-level chapter skeleton is ready, the cartoon and animation artists will be looped in with the Diconomics team to further develop the storyline and associated content. In addition to the core resources, we would also need personnel to provide admin and project management support. Listed below is the summary of resources needed for the total duration of the project (fifteen topics) –

Full-time resources Qty. Duration Full-Time (Months) Equivalent Economic Analyst 1 18 1.0 Data Researcher 1 18 1.0 Project Admin 1 18 1.0 Website Developer 1 18 1.0 Digital Marketing Expert 1 8 1.0 Primary Content Writer 1 15 1.0 Part-time resources Qty. Duration Full-Time (Months) Equivalent Content Writers & Illustrators (Regional Languages) 12 12 0.1 Data & Economic Research Interns 5 18 0.5 Project Coordinators 4 18 0.25 Project Timeline

The tentative time estimate for the Diconomics project is around eighteen months. As discussed in the earlier Content Development section, the project will be divided into three stages. For further details on the specific project timeline details please refer to the chart shown below.

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Project Months 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Content Development Stage I -- First four topics (Hindi) Data Research Content Writing Graphics & Illustrations Animation & Voiceovers Website Development Mobile App Development Stage II -- Translating first four topics Graphics & Illustrations Animation Website Development Stage III -- Eleven topics Data Research Content Writing Graphics & Illustrations Animation Website Development Distribution / Marketing Pilot Phase ( 50 villages x 4 states) Pilot Phase Introduction Surveys / Gather Feedback Phase I (300 villages x 4 states) Phase I Distribution Surveys / Gather Feedback Phase II (Digital Marketing Only) Phase II Distribution Consolidation Phase Wesbite, Data and Material Handoff Transition / Handoff to Host Org Content Production Costs

Project Infrastructure, Setup, Cartoon, Graphics, Animation All the content development – text, graphics, etc. – will be done in India. The estimated costs for these activities are listed below -- Project Setup, IT Infrastructure, Mobile App – 11.00 Lakh Rupees (18,033 USD) Mobile Comic Strips, Cartoons & Animation Production – 38.25 Lakh Rupees (62,705 USD) Please refer to Appendix D.1 for further details on these costs. Project Employees Generally, the project employees can be based either in India or the United States. From the project development perspective, it would be ideal to have presence in both countries. Also presented here are the total implied costs. If the host and partner organizations are ready to

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loan their employees and human capital, then the direct costs for the Diconomics project would be reduced by an appropriate factor. Listed below are estimates for two different scenarios – Project Employees – All Based in India – 58.41 Lakh Rupees (95,754 USD) Project Employees – USA / India Hybrid Model – 185.85 Lakh Rupees (304,672 USD) Please refer to Appendix D.2 for further details on these costs.

Storybook Printing Costs

The turnkey printing and shipping costs for a copy of a single topic (twenty pages) storybook range from five rupees to twenty-eight rupees (eight cents to forty-six cents), depending on the paper quality and type of print. For multiple – three topic books, the costs range from thirteen rupees to fifty rupees (twenty-one cents to eighty-two cents). Please refer to Appendix D.3 for further details on these costs.

Distribution Costs

Digital Distribution For Mobile Comic Strips and Animation Videos, the only relevant operating costs would be the costs of running the marketing and feedback campaigns. As noted in the project timeline above, the distribution activity will consist of three distinct phases with increasing geographic footprint. It is expected that the Distribution / Logistics partners would be able to shoulder the majority of the grassroots activities and provide required support. From the Diconomics team’s perspective, we will need to direct and supervise the overall distribution from a centralized Diconomics project center. While some of the digital content rollout costs are already embedded in the infrastructure and employee costs listed above, we need to account for additional logistics and distribution costs. They are listed below as an aggregate total along with storybook distribution costs. Storybook Distribution While digital content has the obvious advantage of being easy to disseminate, the advantage of paper copy storybooks is that they are more durable and will also be able to reach populations from the lower sections of the societal pyramid, i.e. populations that do not have access to technology and Internet resources.

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The total aggregate distribution and marketing costs for the Diconomics project are listed below: Pilot Phase – 4.50 Lakh Rupees (7,377 USD) Distribution Phase I – 28 Lakh Rupees (45,901 USD) Distribution Phase II – 5 Lakh Rupees (8,197 USD) Please refer to Appendix D.4 for further details on these costs.

Total Project Costs

Total aggregate project costs for all of the items listed above for both India based and USA based resources options – Option A – India Based Resources:

Total Project Costs – 145.16 Lakh Rupees (237,967 USD) Option B – USA Based Resources: Total Project Costs – 272.60 Lakh Rupees (446,885 USD)

Revenues, Sponsorship and Marketing

Foundations /Organizations / Corporate Support The Diconomics project is a non-profit, pro-bono effort. It will be fully dependent on project grants, organizational-level support, and corporate sponsorships for its initial incubation and development. The project will seek to get monetary and other material support from interested organizations. For the public policy and aid-foundations working in financial equality and public literacy domains, this project, if implemented successfully, can be a very effective way of furthering their mission and also be a source of increasing their outreach in India. For the corporate entities, we believe that their association with the Diconomics project will be potentially attractive from a public relations and public perception point of view. Government The educational aspect of Diconomics may appeal to central and state government entities / departments in India that are working in similar domain – HRD ministry, Rural Development ministry, etc. Governmental support, with their access to village level educational and

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administrative networks (Panchayat Samitis, Aanganwadis, Zilla Parishad level educational arms, etc.), would especially be very effective during the final distribution phase of this project. This project idea will be pitched to the relevant governmental entities in an effort to get them on board. Individuals Finally, we would seek to get broad support from the individuals. After the initial seed funding is secured from the types of organizations listed above, for the next phase of the development and implementation process, we will try to crowdsource the required support. A dedicated campaign will be conducted via the Diconomics.com portal and social media to raise awareness about this project.

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Distribution and Marketing

Three-pronged distribution and marketing strategy –

Mobile Comic Cartoon Animation Strips Storybooks Videos •Mobile App •Sponsor a Book Model •Ninety-second trailer •Viral Campaigns, Good •Books available on clips to generate Spam -- Whatsapp, Amazon, Flipkart, etc. incremental interest Facebook •Multiple formats -- •Extensive push through •Sign-up for daily strip paperbacks, color social media feature that mimics the versions, hard cover •Innovative programs newspaper runs collectibles such as partnering with •Print on Demand setup cinema halls and local TV stations •Lend-a-laptop program

The distribution and dissemination of the mobile content, storybooks and the videos is the most critical element of the project’s overall success. But having said that, grassroots-level distribution is not the core competency or responsibility of the Diconomics Project / Diconomics Team. As stated earlier, the idea behind this project is to create high-quality tools and material that can be further used to reach out to and educate the common folks in rural India on economic literacy. From the implementation roll-out perspective, the scope and focus of the Diconomics project team will mainly be on digital marketing. For the storybooks, the Diconomics team will be involved and responsible only for limited proof-of-concept book distributions. This would be done in conjunction with digital marketing and distribution, spread over three phases, to iron

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out any kinks and hurdles, and make sure that the process / material works as intended. These phases are described in more details below. The partners that operate at the local village level would be very important in the overall implementation phase. For effective distribution and dissemination, the onus would really be on these ‘ground partners’ – NGOs, educational institutions, volunteers, social organizations, etc. The distribution strategies for the partners would be detailed in a separate marketing focus document. For the digital marketing, we will use various social media and traditional channels to distribute the product. Innovative use of schemes such as ‘Sponsor a Book’, where an individual contributor can sponsor the production costs of book, and ‘Lend a Laptop’ program wherein individual volunteers would visit villages with their laptops to show and explain animated videos would be adopted. More details about the marketing and allied distribution strategies would be available in a separate marketing-focused document as noted above.

Description of Diconomics Rollout Phases

The project rollout will be implemented in three phases – one pilot phase and two staggered release phases, each with an increasing geographic scope. The release and development strategy of each subsequent phase after the first pilot phase is contingent on the results / feedback from the earlier phases. Also, these three phases will be generally timed to run after / with the three content development stages / activities. Pilot Phase (3 months) The pilot phase would be limited to four topics / chapters in Hindi language (text and videos). Two of the background settings would be from North India, and one each would be from Southern India and the North-Eastern India. The aim of this approach is to gauge the reception to non-native backgrounds that would be used in storybooks, and whether they have any statistically significant divergences or effects. In this pilot phase, fifty villages each would be chosen from the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Half of these villages would be exposed to animated videos while the rest would be equally divided between high and low quality storybooks. Controlled experiments would be carried out to gauge the perception, effectiveness, relevance, percolation, and recall of the material. Feedback would also be gathered on the text material and background conditions.

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In this first pilot phase, the objective would be to get significant penetration in each of the 200 villages (15% exposure rate). As for the numbers, we would plan to have an in-person contact 20,000 individuals from the target population (males, 15-45 age group) and plan to distribute 12,000 copies of the books along with sustained exposure to mobile content and animation videos. Phase I (3 months) In this phase, 300 villages each would be chosen from the non-Hindi states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Orissa and Assam. By this time, we would have six topics ready in native languages. Just like before, controlled experiments would be carried out to gauge the perception and effectiveness of the material. In this phase, the focus would change to perfecting digital marketing techniques. A combination of online and on the ground marketing approaches would be used. A total of 100,000 copies of storybooks would be earmarked for this phase. While the Diconomics team is working on this phase, simultaneously we would also encourage other partner organizations to start and operate their own distribution efforts. All the necessary rollout, project management and admin support would be provided to these partner organizations. Phase II (3 months) During this timeframe, all of the topics and material would be ready. Diconomics team will transition to all digital marketing operations, gradually spreading out to a pan-India level. The team will continue to provide all the necessary rollout, project management and admin support to the partner organizations. It will also monitor the performance and penetration of the project material nationwide.

Diconomics.com Portal

The Diconomics portal will serve three main functions -- 1. It will host the master repository for all items and documents related to this project which would be freely available for download. The examples of the type of material that would be hosted on this website are background reference materials, data sources, data sets (where permitted to list publically), master copies of full book texts, cartoon storybook booklets, and animation videos, mobile comic strips, associated companion handbooks, volunteer training handbooks and videos. In addition, all the financial and transactional documents will be available to maintain complete transparency. From an operational point of view, all the current

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logistics and resources-related information will be placed online; for example, this will include details on volunteers and their area of operations, their output and contribution, etc. 2. This website will also provide the gateway to project management resources tools which would be used to streamline, direct and handle all project-related functions such as surveys, feedbacks, volunteer registration and management, etc. Appropriate cloud based software will be integrated and used for the project administration and user management. 3. Thirdly, the website will provide a secure way to collect donations for this project from individuals.

Diconomics Mobile App

Mobile App will be developed as a centralized gateway to view and download all relevant project files. It will also have a user subscription signup feature, where individuals can sign up to receive daily / weekly content on their mobile phones. This app will be available on all major mobile operating systems / platforms. From a technical perspective, the current envisioned functionality of this app is straightforward to develop and implement. Later on, if it’s determined that there’s a need for a more interactive and richer set of functions, we may change the approach to Mobile App accordingly.

Final Handoff / Consolidation Phase

At this stage, we will initiate the handoff and transition the future project administration and management to the host partner organization. This organization will be responsible for further maintaining and handling the project-related resources and ongoing development, marketing and distribution efforts. It is expected that the host partner organization will continue to build on the framework that the Diconomics project has built by seeking to work on complementary topics and also by analyzing the ongoing current events / activities from a colloquial economic perspective.

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Appendix A

Rural Population -- Target Audience / Size

State Males Females Districts Literacy Males: Penetration rate Age Group – Target -- 5% 15 to 45

Andhra Pradesh 28,243,241 28,118,461 23 60.4 12,709,458 635,473 Arunachal Pradesh 546,011 520,347 16 59.9 245,705 12,285 Assam 13,678,989 13,128,045 27 69.3 6,155,545 307,777 Bihar 48,073,850 44,267,586 38 59.8 21,633,233 1,081,662 Chhattisgarh 9,797,426 9,810,535 18 66.0 4,408,842 220,442 Delhi 226,321 192,721 9 81.9 101,844 5,092 Goa 275,436 276,295 2 86.6 123,946 6,197 17,799,159 16,895,450 26 71.7 8,009,622 400,481 Haryana 8,774,006 7,735,353 21 71.4 3,948,303 197,415 Himachal Pradesh 3,110,345 3,065,705 12 81.9 1,399,655 69,983 Jammu & Kashmir 4,774,477 4,333,583 22 63.2 2,148,515 107,426 Jharkhand 12,776,486 12,278,587 24 61.1 5,749,419 287,471 Karnataka 18,929,354 18,539,981 30 68.7 8,518,209 425,910 Kerala 8,408,054 9,063,081 14 93.0 3,783,624 189,181 Madhya Pradesh 27,149,388 25,408,016 50 63.9 12,217,225 610,861 Maharashtra 31,539,034 30,017,040 35 77.0 14,192,565 709,628 Manipur 878,469 857,767 9 76.2 395,311 19,766 Meghalaya 1,194,260 1,177,179 7 69.9 537,417 26,871 Mizoram 269,135 256,300 8 84.1 121,111 6,056 Nagaland 725,472 682,064 11 75.3 326,462 16,323 Odisha 17,586,203 17,384,359 30 70.2 7,913,791 395,690 Punjab 9,093,476 8,250,716 20 71.4 4,092,064 204,603 Rajasthan 26,641,747 24,858,605 33 61.4 11,988,786 599,439 Sikkim 242,797 214,202 4 78.9 109,259 5,463 Tamil Nadu 18,679,065 18,550,525 32 73.5 8,405,579 420,279 Tripura 1,387,173 1,325,291 4 84.9 624,228 31,211 Uttar Pradesh 80,992,995 74,324,283 71 65.5 36,446,848 1,822,342 Uttarakhand 3,519,042 3,517,912 13 76.3 1,583,569 79,178 West Bengal 31,844,945 30,338,168 19 72.1 14,330,225 716,511 All-India 427,632,643 405,830,805 640 67.8 192,434,689 9,621,734

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Appendix B

Mobile and Internet usage in India Reference -- http://wearesocial.net/tag/india/

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Appendix B

Mobile and Internet usage in India

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Appendix C

Top 25 Languages in India / Percentage of Native Speakers

Language Percentage 1 Hindi 41.03% 2 Bengali 8.11% 3 Telugu 7.19% 4 Marathi 6.99% 5 Tamil 5.91% 6 Urdu 5.01% 7 Gujarati 4.48% 8 Kannada 3.69% 9 Malayalam 3.21% 10 Oriya 3.21% 11 Punjabi 2.83% 12 Assamese 1.28% Subtotal 92.94% 13 Maithili 1.18% 14 Bhili/Bhilodi 0.93% 15 Santali 0.63% 16 Kashmiri 0.54% 17 Nepali 0.28% 18 Gondi 0.26% 19 Sindhi 0.25% 20 Konkani 0.24% 21 Dogri 0.22% 22 Khandeshi 0.21% 23 Kurukh 0.17% 24 Tulu 0.17% 25 Meitei/Manipuri 0.14% Total 98.16%

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Appendix D.1

Diconomics Text and Graphics Production Costs

Total Cost in USD Rupees Equivalent (1 USD = 61 Infrastructure Costs Rupees) Project Administration ₹ 400,000 $6,557 Data Access Fees ₹ 200,000 $3,279 Mobile App Development ₹ 300,000 $4,918 Website / IT setup ₹ 200,000 $3,279 Total ₹ 1,100,000 $18,033

Per Topic Cost Total Cost in USD in Rupees Rupees (15 Equivalent (1 Topics) USD = 61 Cartoon Stories / Animation Costs Rupees) Cartoon Drawings and Proofing 50,000 ₹ 750,000 $12,295 Mobile Comic Strips 25,000 ₹ 375,000 $6,148 Animation Videos 180,000 ₹ 2,700,000 $44,262 Total ₹ 3,825,000 $62,705

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Appendix D.2

Cost Estimates for Project Employees – All Based in India – 65.46 Lakh Rupees (107,311 USD)

In-house Resources Costs India Based Resources Full-time resources Qty Duration Full time Total Monthly Total USD (Months) Equivalent Aggregate Compensation Compensation Equivalent (1 Months (Rupees) (Rupees) USD = 61 Rupees) Economic Analyst 2 18 1.0 36 60,000 ₹ 2,160,000 $35,410 Data Researcher 2 15 1.0 30 25,000 ₹ 750,000 $12,295 Project Admin 1 18 1.0 18 30,000 ₹ 540,000 $8,852 Website Developer 1 18 1.0 18 45,000 ₹ 810,000 $13,279 Digital Marketing Expert 1 8 1.0 8 45,000 ₹ 360,000 $5,902 Primary Content Writer 1 15 1.0 15 60,000 ₹ 900,000 $14,754 Sub Total ₹ 5,520,000 $90,492

Part-time resources Qty Duration Full time Total Monthly Total USD (Months) Equivalent Aggregate Compensation Compensation Equivalent (1 Months (Rupees) (Rupees) USD = 61 Rupees) Writers & Illustrators 12 12 0.1 14.4 40,000 ₹ 576,000 $9,443 Project Coordinators (4) 4 18 0.25 18 25,000 ₹ 450,000 $7,377 Sub Total ₹ 1,026,000 $16,820

Total Compensation ₹ 6,546,000 $107,311

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Appendix D.2

Cost Estimates for Project Employees – USA/India Model – 184.50 Lakh Rupees (302,459 USD) In-house Resources Costs USA / India Hybrid Model Full-time resources Qty Duration Full time Total Monthly Total USD (Months) Equivalent Aggregate Compensation Compensation Equivalent (1 Months (Rupees) (Rupees) USD = 61 Rupees)

Economic Analyst (USA) 1 18 1.0 18 488,000 ₹ 8,784,000 $144,000 Data Researcher (USA) 1 15 1.0 15 305,000 ₹ 4,575,000 $75,000 Economic Analyst (India) 1 18 1.0 18 60,000 ₹ 1,080,000 $17,705 Data Researcher (India) 1 15 1.0 15 25,000 ₹ 375,000 $6,148 Project Admin (India) 1 18 1.0 18 30,000 ₹ 540,000 $8,852 Website Developer (India) 1 18 1.0 18 45,000 ₹ 810,000 $13,279 Digital Marketing Expert (India) 1 8 1.0 8 45,000 ₹ 360,000 $5,902 Primary Content Writer (India) 1 15 1.0 15 60,000 ₹ 900,000 $14,754 Sub Total ₹ 17,424,000 $285,639

Part-time resources Qty Duration Full time Total Monthly Total USD (Months) Equivalent Aggregate Compensation Compensation Equivalent (1 Months (Rupees) (Rupees) USD = 61 Rupees)

Writers & Illustrators (India) 12 12 0.1 14.4 40,000 ₹ 576,000 $9,443 Project Coordinators (India) 4 18 0.25 18 25,000 ₹ 450,000 $7,377 Sub Total ₹ 1,026,000 $16,820

Total Compensation ₹ 18,450,000 $302,459

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Appendix D.3

Storybook Printing Costs

Single Topic Printing Costs – 8.5 x 11 inches – Per Topic Cost Total Cost in USD 24 pages -- (4 cover pages plus 20 inside in Rupees Rupees for Equivalent for 1000 copies 1000 copies(1 pages) USD = 61 Rupees) Single Topic -- Softcover Color Covers / B&W Inside -- Paperback quality -- 24 pages ₹ 5 ₹ 5,000 $82 Color Covers / B&W Inside -- Magazine quality -- 24 pages ₹ 18 ₹ 18,000 $295 Full Color -- Magazine quality -- 24 pages ₹ 28 ₹ 28,000 $459 Multiple Topics (3) Printing Costs – 8.5 x 11 Per Topic Cost Total Cost in USD inches – 64 pages -- (4 cover pages plus 60 in Rupees Rupees for Equivalent for 1000 copies 1000 copies(1 inside pages) USD = 61 Rupees) Multiple Topics (3) -- Softcover Color Covers / B&W Inside -- Paperback quality -- 64 pages ₹ 13 ₹ 13,000 $213 Color Covers / B&W Inside -- Magazine quality -- 64 pages ₹ 35 ₹ 35,000 $574 Full Color -- Magazine quality -- 64 pages ₹ 50 ₹ 50,000 $820 Booklets / Topic handbooks Printing Costs -- Per Topic Cost Total Cost in USD 8.5 x 11 inches -- 24 pages -- (4 cover pages in Rupees Rupees for Equivalent for 1000 copies 1000 copies(1 plus 20 inside pages) USD = 61 Rupees) Booklets - Softcover Full Color -- Magazine quality -- 24 pages ₹ 28 ₹ 28,000 $459

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Shantanu Kulkarni | PhD Applicant | Diconomics Project

Appendix D.4

Distribution Costs Distribution / Marketing Total in USD Rupees Equivalent (1 Costs USD = 61 Rupees) Pilot Phase ( 50 villages x 4 states) Pilot Phase Introduction ₹ 100,000 $1,639 Printing Costs ₹ 300,000 $4,918 12,000 assorted copies Surveys / Gather Feedback ₹ 50,000 $820 Phase I (300 villages x 4 states) Phase I Distribution ₹ 200,000 $3,279 Printing Costs ₹ 2,500,000 $40,984 100,000 assorted copies Surveys / Gather Feedback ₹ 100,000 $1,639 Phase II (Digital Marketing Only) Phase II Distribution ₹ 500,000 $8,197

Total ₹ 3,750,000 $61,475

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